More than two dozen underfed cats, dog removed from town of Ulster home

Diane Pineiro-Zucker - Daily Freeman
State Trooper Thomas Lansing hands over a sick kitten in a cat carrier to Josh Norman of the Ulster County SPCA.

TOWN OF ULSTER >> Animal welfare officers, town of Ulster police and state troopers were confronted with “complete squalor,” including animal feces, when they entered a home at 92 Vincent St. Thursday, and removed more than two dozen underfed cats and at least one dog who was elderly and underweight, authorities said.

At about 4 p.m., officers wearing blue latex gloves were still removing animals, including a litter of four newborn kittens, many older kittens and numerous cats and were unsure how many animals they would ultimately find in and around the one-story, slightly overgrown home on the quiet street off Ulster Avenue. At least 25 sick and underfed cats and one underweight elderly dog who appeared to be suffering from mange had been removed in the first couple of hours of the investigation, said Glenn Daniels, the lead investigator at the SPCA.

Daniels said there is “probably a year’s worth” of garbage in plastic bags stuffed into a back section of the home.

The homeowner, Richard Stumer, will face numerous counts of animal cruelty, or failure to provide sustenance, a violation of state Agriculture and Markets Law, Daniels said. At about 4 p.m., he said Stumer would be charged later Thursday.

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Stumer declined to comment when approached by a reporter outside his home.

The animals were reported to police by Jeanne Atwood of Woodstock, a therapist for Ulster County who said she was taking a walk with friends Thursday and decided to try a new route. At the end of Vincent Street, she noticed a few kittens lying in the road. Upon closer examination, Atwood, who said she has volunteered for animal rescue organizations, realized the animals were unhealthy.

After knocking on the door and not getting an answer, Atwood said she called the police. “These poor animals can’t help themselves,” she said.

“Their eyes are falling out of their heads,” she added, describing some of the cats she saw outside the home.

Dawn Breuer of 82 Vincent St. said she owns two properties adjoining Stumer’s. Breuer said the Stumer family’s cats have been in her yard and cat feces has been accumulating in her garden for some time. “It’s been going on for years. We’ve been putting up with it,” she said. “I hope they get help.”

Bob Crane, another neighbor who lives at 41 Vincent St., was in Breuer’s driveway with a small group of neighbors watching the rescue. “Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors,” he said.

About the Author

Diane Pineiro-Zucker has been a reporter at the Daily Freeman since April 2013.
Pineiro-Zucker worked as a reporter in the Freeman’s Rhinebeck bureau in the early 1980s, left to become executive editor at Taconic Newspapers in Dutchess County, and returned to the Freeman in 2010 as a copy editor. Reach the author at dpzucker@freemanonline.com
or follow Diane on Twitter: @DianeAtFreeman.